Blue Jays miraculously get something for Jason Grilli
When the Toronto Blue Jays designated Jason Grilli for assignment on Tuesday the assumption was that although he could be traded or claimed, ultimately he’d be released. Furthermore, it seemed a fairly safe bet that the struggling 40-year-old had delivered his final pitch in the major leagues.
On Sunday, the surprising news dropped that the Texas Rangers had acquired him, and cash considerations, in exchange for minor-league outfielder Eduard Pinto.
OF Eduard Pinto acquired from Texas for Jason Grilli and cash considerations.
— Blue Jays PR (@BlueJaysPR) July 2, 2017
The Rangers’ rationale on the deal is rather puzzling. The fact they felt the need to step in and offer a return of any kind implies that they felt Grilli had other suitors and they couldn’t pick him up off the discard pile – or they thought he would be unwilling to sign with them if he became a free agent. Each of those scenarios would be surprising if true.
Either way, it’s pretty unusual to be that keen to bring in a quadragenarian pitcher sporting a 6.97 ERA, 7.88 FIP and -0.7 WAR mark. Beyond the ugly numbers, Grilli has simply looked done all year. He’s struggled mightily to command his fastball-slider mix and even with John Gibbons making sure he almost never had to pitch back-to-back days, he could never put together a run of quality outings.
To be fair to Texas, they’re dealing with a troubled bullpen that ranks 25th in baseball in WAR (0.7) and 24th in ERA (4.67) and taking some fliers makes sense. Grilli can still miss bats (10.02 K/9) and his velocity (93.0 mph average) hasn’t totally deserted him. He’s a hell of a long shot at this stage, but if you squint to the point where the entire world becomes an amorphous blur it’s possible to see the upside.
What is difficult to justify is the Rangers relinquishing Pinto. Chances are, Pinto will not make a significant MLB impact. The Venezuelan has never been a big-time prospect. He doesn’t have much in the way of power or speed tools and has never hit more than five home runs or stolen more than eight bases in a year. Guys with that kind of profile rarely make it all the way.
The being said, all Pinto has done in his minor-league career is put the bat on the ball. In 1683 minor-league plate appearances he’s hit .309/.367/.390 and struck out fewer times (120) than he’s walked (130). He’s also only 22 years old and has already logged some at-bats at the Double-A level. Currently he’s hitting .311/.358/.446 at Advanced-A while playing in both outfield corners.
KATOH – the prospect projection system of FanGraphs – has him pegged for 2.3 MLB WAR through age 28, and likes him as a ‘super deep sleeper’. The same system considered him a candidate to be taken in the Rule V draft last offseason. He’s a guy who the numbers like much better than the scouts, but he’s not a complete non-entity.
Unless there’s something entirely unexpected in the ‘cash considerations’ the Blue Jays are sending to Texas, this looks like a small-scale heist. They give away a reliever they can’t use and presumably pay down his salary and in return they get themselves the kind of mildly intriguing young player that hits once in a while.
Even though Pinto is hardly a blue-chip prospect, he’s better than nothing. It’s unclear if the same can be said of Grilli, who right now seems at least as likely to hurt a team as help them. Considering the Blue Jays were mere days from losing the latter with no return, this is a tidy piece of business for them.
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